Heading to Sea

Military Sealift Command's Joint High Speed Vessel will make its maiden deployment on Jan. 16, Inside The Navy has learned.

JHSV-1, the Spearhead, is scheduled to depart Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, VA, for an eight-month deployment, MSC spokesman James Marconi said.

The vessel will first travel to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility in the Mediterranean and Africa region, where it will remain until May 2014. Then it will move to U.S. 4th Fleet's area of responsibility in Central and South America, where it will stay until the end of September -- the end of fiscal year 2014.

Ultimately, the Navy plans to have 10 such vessels available to military commanders around the globe. JHSV-3 successfully completed acceptance trials on Jan. 10 and the Navy christened JHSV-4 on Jan. 11.